diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/kdebug.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/kdebug.h
index 7a2910b3512b..5bdfca86581b 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/kdebug.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/kdebug.h
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ extern void __show_regs(struct pt_regs *regs, int all);
 extern void show_regs(struct pt_regs *regs);
 extern unsigned long oops_begin(void);
 extern void oops_end(unsigned long, struct pt_regs *, int signr);
+#ifdef CONFIG_KEXEC
 extern int in_crash_kexec;
+#else
+/* no crash dump is ever in progress if no crash kernel can be kexec'd */
+#define in_crash_kexec 0
+#endif
 
 #endif /* _ASM_X86_KDEBUG_H */